Vengeful Sage
by lamejoke911
Summary: Naruto is tired of the hate the villagers have piled upon him, between being apprenticed, told about the Kyuubi and attacked by Orochimaru, we have quite a different Naruto to emerge from the ninja academy. Uchiha Massacre takes place later with a slight difference. Dark Sharingan/ Rinnegan Naruto. Eventual godlike Naruto. Dark Sasuke, Multi-bloodline-Naruto. Definitely Not Yaoi!
1. Chapter 1: The Beginnings of a Path

**Vengeful Sage**

Chapter 1: Beginnings of a Path

**Disclaimer: I don't own most of the stuff in this fic, including Naruto, and whatever other things randomly pop up.**

On a warm summer evening, a ten year old boy stared into the orange-streaked horizon, watching the sun set into the forest beyond, its shining radiance slowly fading into oblivion. Sitting atop a massive stone head carved into a mountain, he looked down into the village beneath him. The restaurants, the shops, the bakeries – they all reminded him of one fact; he was not wanted. He was hated by the village. Nobody needed or wanted him. He was alone, as he had been all his life, from the very day he was born. In the beginning, he tried. Oh he tried so very hard, to gain the recognition of the villagers, to earn their respect as a fellow human being, if nothing else. But to no avail.

Years ago, he had stopped trying. He had stopped crying too. It would do him no good. The more he tried to socialize with them, the more he was rebuked and rejected, called demon and monster. He hated them. He hated them all, and were it not for a few kind souls, he didn't know what he would do. One of them was an old man who would visit him from time to time, and help him buy stuff from stores that would throw him out. He was the Hokage, he realized a couple years ago – the strongest ninja in the village, someone everyone adored and revered. He wanted to be just like him when he was younger. But then… the academy happened. Even since he turned nine, the old man had entered him into the ninja academy, and his excitement knew no bounds. He finally had a chance to prove himself, to make others realize how great he could be, that he too could become an "embodiment of the will of fire", as the old man put it, whatever that meant.

However, it was not so long after that he realized the futility of his dreams. Whenever he succeeded at something the class was assigned, he would be scorned instead of praised. His assessments would be sabotaged, and he was failed on purpose. During sparring sessions, his teachers would fight at levels no kid his age could ever hope to match, and he would end up being beaten into unconsciousness, where he was dumped unceremoniously in the grounds, left to lie there till he woke up. However, despite these handicaps, he managed to just barely scrape by, and learned to harness his chakra. He learned about shuriken and kunai, and how to use them in a fight. He could shoot a bull's eye from ten feet away, which was pretty impressive in his books. He could use his chakra to henge himself into a perfect replica of almost anyone he knew. In fact, he had even created a technique of his own, where he transformed into a beautiful buxom blonde girl, almost completely naked if not for the technique's residual clouds covering her privates from the rest of the world. And it was quite the formidable jutsu indeed, for this technique was all you needed to bleed any pervert out there into submission – which he learned first-hand after a few trial runs countless souls who were caught in its deadly snare. It worked on the villagers who chased him around the village, shouting for revenge against the demon, it worked against his teachers, it even worked against the old man Hokage, and he was supposed to be the strongest ninja out there.

He was not the best in his class, but neither was he the worst; in fact he liked to think he was one of the better students, only being bested by the likes of Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Shino Aburame and others. That too was partly due to his teachers being completely biased against him, and partly due to his inability to perform the Bunshin no Jutsu, which was supposed to create an illusionary clone of the user, in order to confuse the enemy. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not create a single working clone that was not a devastating failure. In fact, he had already given up on that avenue, and come to terms with the idea that it was impossibility for him. Why, he had no idea… but he didn't really care, because he had something better.

**Flashback:**

_Naruto fled the incoming mob as it stormed behind him - chasing him away from the shop he had painted orange overnight - running like his life depended on it (which it did, as a matter of fact). Seeing some bushes to his right, he leapt in, and hid, his head at ground level. Several minutes, he waited like that till he was certain he had lost them. He was almost about to emerge when he heard voices. He peeked out of the bush he was hiding in into the clearing behind it. It was a tall man, probably a jounin from the looks of it, with three kids, each wearing a Konoha Hitai-ate over their foreheads. The shortest one, a boy with short brown hair and a puppy sitting on his head was bouncing up and down in excitement._

"_What cool new jutsu are you gonna teach us today, Sensei?" he asked._

"_I'm sure all of you are already acquainted with the clone jutsu from the academy, now I'm gonna teach you a different type of clone, a solid clone in fact." Turning to the boy, who by the looks of it was an Inuzuka, he said, "Tashegi, since your dominant element is earth, you'll be learning the Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu. Same goes for you, Renji." He said to the taller boy._

"_Here are the hand-seals, get to work. I expect you to be able to create at least three solid clones by the end of the week. And no slacking, Renji!" Showing the two the correct sequence of hand-seals, which was pretty short as far as Naruto was concerned, the jounin turned to the last member of the group, indicating for her to follow him towards the river._

"_Maki, you being a water element user, will be learning the Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu, and that's why I brought you here, since the river water will help you train and makes it easier to create water clones for beginners." Showing her the hand-seals, and telling her to start practicing, he walked to do whatever jounin usually do…._

_Naruto - who hadn't moved a muscle ever since he spotted the team enter the training field - finally relaxed as the jounin left the area. He had found himself a new target. _

**Flashback End:**

Over the next few days, he had practiced and perfected the earth clone jutsu, which he found, to his astonishment, to be far easier and more natural than the regular clone jutsu. By spying on the team again and again, he had even learned the water clone jutsu, watching the girl Maki practicing on it.

However what astonished him most wasn't the ease with which these jutsu came to him, nor was it the fact that these clones were nowhere near as dull looking and dead as his normal clones, rather it was the sheer number of clones he could make. Literally hundreds of clones appeared at his command, and Naruto could barely even feel the drain on his chakra reserves. It was tremendous. This mind-blowing discovery though, remained undiscovered, because Naruto knew exactly what would happen if word spread that the "demon" could summon hundreds of clones to his side at any time. And so, life went on.

Naruto sighed as he ran his hand through his spiky blond hair, opening his eyes to reveal blue orbs the color of the sky. Today was his birthday, but he expected no more than what previous years had brought him, pain and suffering, and a genuine loathing for almost all things Konoha. He got up, and found himself sitting at Ichiraku Ramen five minutes later. After devouring over ten bowls of his favorite miso ramen (I don't think stomach sizes actually differ by that much, but hey, Kishi's the boss!), and leaving the bill on his ever growing tab for the end of the month, the blond headed home, passing through dark side streets to avoid detection by the villagers, who apparently went over the edge with their demon killing tendencies on the day of his birthday, which also turned out to be a festival day, in commemoration of the defeat of the Kyuubi, the nine-tailed demon fox that attacked Konoha ten years ago, exactly the day he was born, in fact.

Now Naruto was far from stupid, and he immediately found it fishy when he put all these facts together, however the most he could conclude was that he was resented for being born on the day of mourning - and as petty as the villagers were, believing in this wouldn't be too far a stretch of the imagination – and the Hokage was quite tight-lipped on the matter.

So it was on one of these dark alleys that he was passing through when he heard a noise, a drunken voice, "Today's the day I avenge my comrades, you filthy demon! Die, die, die. You'll pay for your insolence."

A weight suddenly fell upon Naruto's back, and he doubled over. Just as he was about to stand up and push the weight aside, he felt a piercing pain in his left shoulder, as if a knife had just been stabbed through it, and then wrenched out with no care for the target's life (well that sums it up nicely enough).

As the blond pushed him off, he knew he was bleeding, which was evident from the stains on the ground, but he didn't care. His body was pumping adrenaline and he ran, turning into an aisle and then another till he found himself trapped. With a dead end in front of him, and a drunken killer behind him, he had nowhere to go. However, Naruto was never one to go down without a fight, and the man before him was no more than a common civilian, though his overwhelming height and weight were quite the intimidating factor. Nevertheless, Naruto being Naruto went for a frontal assault, before being stabbed once more, this time through the stomach, and once more between his ribs. However he did manage to uppercut the hulking figure (for him at least) in the chin and knock his feet out from beneath him, before ripping the man's kunai out of his hands and slitting his throat with it.

Within seconds, there were two or three violent jerks, and then all was still. As the adrenaline left him, he grew tired and collapsed onto the man, falling unconscious.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto awoke to the sound of birds chirping. Peace and quiet, nothing to disturb nature but the sound of people bustling around, taking care of their day to day business. Wait a minute….where was he? As he opened his eyes, he was blinded by the dazzling light coming in from the window. He looked around, taking in the plain white walls and white bed sheets spread out on the bed he lay upon…. Oh he knew where he was; the bane of his short ten-year life, wherein resided the scariest and most cruel brand of professionals known to man, the Konoha Public Hospital. Giving himself a one over, he realized something, he was bandaged all about his torso and shoulders, but he could feel no pain, no wound, nothing. So then why was he here? What day was it?

The day of the festival! His birthday! And then it all came rushing back to him. How he was attacked by a drunken villager in the darkest of alleys in Konoha's Redlight district, how he fled from his assailant until he ran into a dead end, how had stood his ground, how he had so thoughtlessly slit the man's throat…. He should feel ashamed of himself, he thought, but surprisingly, he didn't. After all, he was just defending himself. He hadn't actively sought out the man in order to kill him. Besides, he had deserved it.

Before he could dwell further on this dark train of thoughts, the door opened up to reveal a young woman in a short nurse's outfit, leading the way for an old man wearing the ceremonial robes of the Hokage who entered in behind her. Though his face was set in an uncharacteristic frown, he allowed a slight shadow of a smile to creep into his expression before he resigned himself back to his previous demeanor. This was definitely not a social call.

"Ah, I see you're up and about Naruto-kun, just as usual," he began, breaking him from his morbid train of thought. "How are you feeling now? My ANBU found you bleeding out from several puncture wounds on your body, lying over a dead man who was reported missing for three hours before you were found. What happened?" Though the old man already had a pretty good idea of what probably happened.

"Oh hey, jiji. I don't feel a thing. How long have I been asleep? And what date is it?" Naruto replied, actually sounding worried for a bit.

"You were found late yesterday evening, and now it's the afternoon of the next day. What with the amount of blood you had lost, I'm actually quite surprised you were able to wake up so quickly. But putting those matters aside, we have some serious issues to discuss, primarily the case of the dead man you were found with…." The Hokage began, trying to steer the conversation to the matter at hand.

"Jiji, I was attacked by this unknown man, so I defended myself, and he ended up dying as a result. There's nothing I could have done."

"But surely, you didn't have to kill him. Do you not know how big of a deal it is to take a life with your own two hands? This is a very grave deed indeed. How do you feel about it."

"I don't know what I feel. Or rather, I don't feel anything. If you're expecting sadness, or regret, or even remorse, I'm not sure I feel any of them. Aren't you happy that I'm alive? Would you prefer that I was dead in his stead?"

"No, of course not Naruto-kun, but you must understand that killing everyone who antagonizes you is not the solution. Make the people trust you, and there just may come a time when you are the most beloved person in the village. You have a responsibility to your village Naruto; you cannot just go around killing its citizens…"

"But jiji I tried already, and nobody cared. Why does everyone hate me anyway. Is it because of the events at the time of my birth? Is it because of the Kyuubi?!"

These words, in the particular way and order they were said, though unknowingly, shocked the old man to his very core. Did Naruto know? If so, since when? He was baffled. How could he know…..Unless, unless the Kyuubi was contacting him?

"Do you know the answer, Naruto-kun?"

"I want to hear it from you."

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Professor, God of Shinobi, and currently longest reigning Hokage sighed, as he lowered his head in defeat. Naruto knew. Would he ever trust him again? He didn't know. He would just have to come clean about the issue, and hope for the best.

"How much do you know about that night ten years ago, when the Kyuubi attacked the village?"

"Well, at the academy, they taught us that the Yondaime Hokage defeated it, and killed it with an awesome suicidal jutsu."

"Well, Naruto-kun, you see, the fact of the matter is that the Kyuubi cannot be destroyed, as it is merely a being of chakra, so there is no true and told way of killing it. The only option the Yondaime had was to seal it inside a newborn child. That child was you. That is also the reason why people see you as a demon, because they find you as a scapegoat for all of their hate that they hold against the Kyuubi."

Seeing the blonde's gob smacked expression, Hiruzen realized that he had been had….. by a ten year old boy no less. He must truly be losing it in his old age if things were turning out this way. So Naruto had no clue whatsoever? That was just sad.

On the inside, Naruto was smirking, '_Naruto: 2, Old Man Hokage: 0'_ Well, counting his use of the sexy jutsu that is. Anyway, he grew serious as he contemplated what he had just found out.

"But why did it have to be a child? Why me?"

"Because only a child, whose chakra network was yet undeveloped could hope to survive such a sealing. Had an adult been used, the sudden influx of so much chakra would have been too much, and the most probable scenario would be that the Kyuubi would escape, killing its host along with it."

"Umm, is it harmful? The Kyuubi's presence that is…."

"No actually, Jinchuuriki – that's what people like you are called – actually have special abilities because of the being sealed inside of them. For example, look at the wounds you sustained just yesterday. It would have taken any normal person over a week to recover from them, and even then, they would probably have scarred, but with the help of your regenerative abilities granted to you by the Kyuubi, they're already fading away the next day. In addition, the Kyuubi's chakra slowly seeps into your coils, forcing them to become larger, and so, even at the age of ten, your chakra levels by far outclass those of most chunin."

"So basically it makes me super badass….? Yeah, how cool is that!"

"Jiji, I want to be the strongest ninja ever!" '_So I can make sure no one ever belittles me like that again…..'_

"That is an admirable goal, Naruto-kun. To be a strong ninja to serve and protect one's village, and those precious to them. I'm expecting great things from you." A glimpse of a true smile could be seen on the old man's face, reflecting his pleasure at seeing Konoha's resident Jinchuuriki setting himself on the path to becoming a true embodiment of the will of fire.

'_As if….. Those villagers can go **** themselves.'_ Naruto thought, never once breaking the happy façade he had been displaying for the past half hour.

"But jiji, how will I become an awesome ninja if my teachers don't teach me anything?"

"I'm really sorry you feel that way, Naruto-kun. But there's always still the library. I'll make sure to let the librarian know that you're allowed in the ninja section. You know; Jinchuuriki privileges and all…" Hiruzen decided that endearing the young boy and making him feel indebted to him would make Naruto more loyal, and drive him to further improve his skill set more quickly.

"Thanks jiji. I'll be sure to make you proud."

Satisfied for now, the Sandaime Hokage stood up and made for the door, speaking to the nurse for a bit, and then finally bidding farewell, leaving Naruto to dwell on his thoughts. 'Jiji will never understand. The villagers' hate runs far too deep. There is no turning them. I will just have to fend for myself.' And so began, our favorite blonde's descent into darkness.

**Right so somebody tell me if you like it or not, and if the writing is any good. First story so expect some issues. No promises with respect to updates. **

**Some changes to the storyline. Well, no Uchiha massacre. Naruto isn't as dumb as he's in canon. Not much has happened yet, just the run-of-the-mill sort of first chapter. I wanted to write a longer chapter, but I thought here is a nice place to break. Anyhow, I'm out.**


	2. Chapter 2: Uzumaki?

**Vengeful Sage**

Chapter 2: Uzumaki?

**Disclaimer: I don't own most of the stuff in this fic, including Naruto, and whatever other things randomly pop up.**

**greenblue22: That's an acceptable idea, however, I won't restrict the pairing as of yet. Also, I don't know if I want Sarutobi to be good, bad or somewhere in between, so I'll think about it. I appreciate the feedback though. About the bloodlines, I'm already going to make Naruto godlike, for a specific reason that might be revealed this chapter or the next one, so only the abilities that factor into the original plot I had in mind will be added initially. Even for a godlike fic, I don't want to go overboard, unless there's a very believable reason for me to do so. As for Mokuton, the thing is that though your idea has merit, and it's been used in several very good fics, it does sound weird that Minato would not have it….Anyway, I'll see.**

**Kurama Thunderstorm: Well, I hope you like this story then, but I'll try not to go overboard with the darkness thing, just the I don't care about you, if you feel the same way about me attitude.**

***** This is just a repost of this chapter with a slight edit. For those of you who have read it, no need to read it again. I've merely added the jutsu names and descriptions at the end of the chapter. Also, this is to inform you of the community I've created for super stories. Please give it a look. I'll be adding some nice ones in there in a couple days, I hope, God-willing. *****

It had been ten months since Naruto became aware of the Kyuubi residing in his gut. It had been ten months since the attack on his life, and much had changed since then. He was almost eleven, and Naruto's third year at the academy was about to begin. Over the past months, he had improved much, mostly due to being able to freely visit the library. Of course, he was not allowed access to all the books there, especially those containing jutsu of the highest level, and most anything beyond chunin level was only found in the Konoha archive, which had highly restricted access. Even then, between the amount of history texts available and those on chakra control and jutsu up to mid-B-rank available, Naruto had come far from the boy he was ten months ago.

Not too long after the aforementioned episode, young Naruto had stumbled upon an unused training ground, Training Ground Three to be exact, which he had unofficially declared as his. Every day, after returning from the academy, he would go there and work on his taijutsu, fighting with and against hordes of his earth clones, which proved to be quite a workout, seeing that his earth clones were almost as durable as he was (or maybe not, considering who we're talking about here) working through different strategies, all aimed at taking advantage of superior numbers to ensnare an opponent in his web of traps.

Talking of traps, that was where Naruto excelled, his area of expertise, if you'd like to call it. But more precisely, trap-making could be considered his hobby. After the dozens of times his apartment had been vandalized and intruded upon, the blond had come to realize that his own well-being, and that of his small but comfortable apartment rested on his own shoulders, and he could not rely on the ANBU, who had better things to do, nor on the Military Police to properly patrol and safeguard his property from the random theft or other form of malicious intrusion. And thus began his interest in trap-making. After the first half of a dozen attempts at entering his apartment were brought to their knees, some ending up with the intruders ensnared in coils of ninja wire, others falling into false floors, and some hanging from the ceiling, the frequency of such attempts decreased greatly.

Aside from that however, Naruto would practice several of the jutsu he had picked up from the books and scrolls in the library, including basic elemental jutsu. However, in his search for deadly jutsu, Naruto went through many a book on bloodlines and special jutsu, until he came upon something he had never expected to come across, namely, the Uzumaki Clan.

To say the blond was shocked was an understatement. All his life, he had thought that he, being an orphan since the day he was born, had just been given a random name, which held no significance to anyone. He was a nobody; a clan-less, unimportant, random orphan, who nobody wanted and nobody needed. In other words, the perfect sacrifice…

But now….. he knew it not to be so. He had a clan, or at least, that's what it seemed like. He didn't know whether he ought to jump in delight, or wallow in despair. He had a family, even though he didn't know them yet… a family that had abandoned him, he realized. A family that had not claimed him in over eleven years. But then again, if he had never once heard of this Uzumaki clan, it may very well be that they were not even a clan of Konoha. Maybe his parents were migrants from some far off land, and the other Uzumakis did not know about him. Yeah, that was probably it. That's why no one came for him. There was only one way to find out though.

**Flashback:**

_An old man, well into his sixties, sat before a desk, battling against the pile of documents that lay innocently before him, passively hoping to overwhelm him. Well sat would be slightly inaccurate, for he was resting his head on his pile of waiting paperwork, hoping to catch up on his much deserved and well-earned reading time, after all, even kages have to rest sometimes right?_

_Wrong. The door to his office, and safe haven (hmm? Dream on, jij!) for the time being was blasted open, as a yellow blur sped into the room, coming to stop before his desk, being followed by his middle-aged secretary, who began to pull on the shoulder of the perpetrator behind this early morning chaos, who revealed himself to be none other than Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha's resident prankster as of a couple months ago._

"_Get out of here you insolent child. Hokage-sama doesn't have time to spare for every spoilt little kid who's lost his lollipop. Some people actually have work to do, unlike you." She chided, in a condescending tone._

"_Let him be, Hamako-chan. I was just finishing up with my work anyway. See…?" Hiruzen explained, pointing at his nearly empty desktop. 'Let her buy it, let her buy it…..'_

_Hamako stared unbelievingly, before spotting the pile of unstamped paperwork haphazardly tossed behind the Hokage's desk. Sweatdropping, she left the room, muttering something about the younger generation having no respect, and no consideration for etiquette when dealing with important people….._

"_Yes, Naruto-kun, how can I help you? I assume this isn't a social call, what with the enthusiasm you showed in getting here…" Hiruzen began, reminding Naruto of why he had come here._

"_Jiji, what can you tell me about my parents?"_

"_Nobody knows who they were; they died during the Kyuubi attack. But you already know this. What exactly made you ask?"_

"_Well then, how come I'm named after the Uzumaki clan? They were an important clan right?"_

"_Naruto-kun, I've told you this before, your name tag was discovered in your basket when you were retrieved from the hospital for the sealing ritual?"_

"_But surely, there must have been someone named Uzumaki in the village before theKyuubi attack?"_

"_That's definitely a possibility .I was retired then, so I probably wouldn't know about all the active ninja at the time. But it's also possible that you're grasping for straws in the dark here and that you have no link to the Uzumaki clan at all. I'm sorry."_

"_Ok, then can you tell me about the Uzumaki clan? Where were they from? What were they known for? Can I meet them?"_

"_Naruto-kun, I'm afraid that won't be possible. The Uzumaki clan was destroyed long ago during the Second Great Shinobi War, and any survivors or remnants were scattered to the four corners of the Elemental Nations. To be able to find or locate any one of them is not a simple task at all."_

_And just like that, his heart dropped. All those hopes, wishes and aspirations he had been stacking, one upon the other over the past several hours since his discovery came tumbling down, leaving him like a wilted stem. He sighed, resigning himself to his cruel fate, a fate that seemed intent on making him despair, playing the most insensitive of jokes it possibly could._

**Flashback End**

Naruto being Naruto couldn't be kept down for long, and soon after, Naruto discovered what his clan had been known for. One of the more versatile, yet obscure arts: Fuuinjutsu. The Art of Sealing. The greatest living example of which could be found inscribed on his gut. Yes, he had noticed the giant and infinitely complex sealing array that would appear on his abdomen whenever he molded chakra. Aside from that, however, despite searching for everything there was to know about the clan, there wasn't too much information aside from guesswork and conjecture, such as the fact that Uzumaki clan members had a heightened vitality and very strong life force, and very short rejuvenation times. Well, yeah he had loads of that, but didn't jiji say that his healing was due to the Kyuubi's chakra? He wanted to hope, but the blonde was afraid of being let down. There was no concrete information about them with regards to any special abilities they possessed though. Just rumors - rumors of insane healing powers, rumors of out of the world sensing abilities, rumors of visible weapons made out of chakra and whatnot.

Regardless, Naruto was understandably less than satisfied. He decided that he would find out about his origins, and though he was loathe to admit it, he craved for the sort of affection only a family could give.

**Flashback:**

"_Hey old man, keep the ramen coming. I'm starving."Exclaimed an exhausted young Naruto, stumbling into Ichiraku's little ramen stand after a full day of non-stop training with the Great Fireball Jutsu. Ever since he saw his self-declared rival – Sasuke Uchiha - performing this technique in front of the entire class, and receiving extra credit for his end-of-term ninjutsu examination two months ago, Naruto had become obsessed with learning how to breathe out a fireball larger than himself from his mouth, and not long after his efforts bore fruit when he found a scroll detailing the jutsu in the shinobi section of the library, which, thanks to special permissions from the Hokage, he had access to. Over the course of a week, he had mastered it to the extent that he could exhale a fireball the size of his bathroom, small as it was, yet, he felt something wrong with it. As if when he would be about to perform the jutsu, something would hold him back, and he would feel that awkward empty feeling, even though the results of a successfully executed Great Fireball Jutsu were obvious._

_Coming back to the ramen stand, where our favorite blond is busy stuffing himself with the "food of the gods", the aged owner of the ramen stand and his daughter, Ayame smile as they look on._

"_Teuchi-ojisan, did you know about anyone else named Uzumaki who lived in Konoha before I was born?" Naruto asked hopefully._

"_Why yes, in fact. A young woman by the name of Kushina. Poor girl, she was. She came to Konoha a month before the destruction of the Uzumaki clan and the fall of Uzushiogakure. She was quite a spirited young lady though, much like you yourself." Teuchi stared on into the evening, reminiscing, thinking of times long gone. "Sadly, she died during the Kyuubi attack. She was a frequent customer here at this ramen stand. So was Yondaime-sama in fact. Huh, beat that you lousy usurpers!" He jumped, punching the air for emphasis._

_Naruto's heart was jumping for joy upon hearing this. All of the facts fit together. Her dying during the Kyuubi attack, his inheriting her enthusiastic attitude… wait a minute. Aren't you supposed to get your father's name when you're born? 'Let this not be a dead end please….'_

"_Wasn't there a male Uzumaki, Teuchi-jiji?" 'Please say yes, please say yes.'_

"_I'm afraid I haven't heard of any. Sorry Naruto-kun. However, there was another Uzumaki in Konoha, but she was far before your time…"_

"_Who? Who? Who?"_

"_Her name was Mito Uzumaki, and she was the Shodai-sama's wife. I don't really know that much about her, you should probably ask your academy teacher. He could help you out. "_

"_Umm, this Kushina person- could you tell me more about her? Like what did she look like, and stuff, you know?" He asked, daring to hope._

"_Well, she had striking red hair and purple eyes, and she loved ramen almost as much as you do. She used to beat up anyone who made fun of her, especially her hair. Anyway, I don't really know as much about her as others. I remember she used to be pretty close to Hokage-sama, he would know. Maybe you should ask him. Then there's always Kakashi Hatake, if you can find him that is."_

'_So jiji knew…. Yet, he hid it from me. Why, is it because he doesn't trust me? Is it because of the Kyuubi? Well I'm not going to ask him anyway.'_

_Deciding upon a new goal for himself, Naruto stood up, paying for the food from his allowance savings. "Thanks a bunch, ojisan. You were a real help. Could you tell me where to find this Kakashi person?"_

"_Oh, just ask around…..you'll find him sometime."_

"_Oh, alright. Well, see you."_

**Flashback End**

That was a week ago. He had no real luck so far with finding this Kakashi person. And since the academy was off, he didn't know where Iruka-sensei was. Heading to his normal training grounds, he heard voices. Loud voices. Shouting voices. And then he came upon a scene the likes of which he had never seen, nor had he ever conceived such an outlandish idea in his ever imaginative little head.

"Lee, my youthful student. How lucky I was to have found you. I can just see the youthful potential lying dormant within you, awaiting the inevitably youthful awakening of its springtime of youth." A man in a tight body-fitting green spandex leotard with the thickest set of eyebrows known to man and black shiny hair in a bowl cut style, wearing a Konoha jounin flak jacket and orange leg warmers shouted out to the world, hugging a mini-clone of himself, the one he apparently called Lee.

"Yosh, Gai-sensei. It was I that was lucky to have been found by you and chosen by you to benefit from your youthful teachings!" The mini-clone of the newly revealed Gai-sensei shouted back, a river of tears flowing down his face, anime style (where does all that fluid go anyway). The river of tears slowly turned into a sea, and the soil transmuted to sand before Naruto's very eyes, as the sun began to set, as early as eight in the morning, as the two spandex wearing *****s continued to hug each, oblivious to the pain felt by the onlookers and the world around them. (Ok, so I admit I couldn't come up with a fitting word).

"Yosh, Lee. A youthful kindred soul has volunteered to join you on your youthful quest." The man named Gai said, turning to the newly arrived blonde, who was still in a daze from the fading illusionary beach and sunset jutsu, the sight of which was overwhelmingly nauseating and just wrong on so many levels.

"Huh? Did you say something? I'm sorry I didn't quite catch it….." He asked, holding his head as he recovered (is that even possible?) from the debilitating effects of the almighty genjutsu.

"Such a hip and cool attitude…. Just like my rival Kakashi. Yosh, Lee, it seems you've just found yourself a youthful rival just like my own."

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee."

"Gai-sensei."

"Lee."

"Gai-sensei."

As the two youthful (did I just say that?) shinobi continued to embrace the other in the youthful joy of their eternal springtime of youth, Naruto was ready this time. Closing his eyes, he knew he could not let the Beach Sunset no Jutsu fully kick in. Adopting a taijutsu pose, he flew towards the spandex-wearing duo, coming in with a raging spin kick, sending the duo flying, though they both recovered in mid-air, righting themselves and landing in a hand-stand.

"Yosh, Lee. It seems your youthful eternal rival has a most youthful technique, rivaling the Dynamic Entry. But there were at least six flaws in the technique that I could point out off the top off my head. Come, youthful child, and allow us to assist you in awakening your true springtime of youth."

"Yosh, my brother in youth, I am Rock Lee, the Beautiful Green Wild Beast of Konoha. What is _your_ name?"

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm gonna become the greatest ninja ever. Remember it!"

"Yosh, Naruto-kun, from now onwards, you will be my eternal rival, just like Hatake Kakashi is Gai-sensei's eternal rival. Do you accept?"

"Huh?"

"Such a hip attitude, just as expected from my eternal rival. I challenge you to a most youthful spar… Do you accept?"

"…."

"Excellent, shall we begin?"

"Uh, ok alright. But first, did you just say Hatake Kakashi? Do you know him? Can you tell me where to find him?"

"Of course, he is Gai-sensei's eternal rival after all."

"Oh, thanks."

"Anything for my youthful rival, now let us begin…."

And with that, the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha took his battle ready stance, and then charged. Naruto, though confused for a second, quickly gathered his wits and jumped back, as a bandaged fist passed through the air where he was a second ago. The spandex wearing ninja-in-training didn't give up however, and continued to charge at him, increasing his speed with every moment, straining to keep up with Naruto, who, despite being a year younger, had been running from people much older than him ever since he was four. Dodging the next punch and retaliating with an uppercut that was blocked by Lee, he was forced to duck to avoid a leaping spin kick performed by his adversary. But when Lee crouched low to execute a spinning sweep kick, Naruto was forced to jump into the air, leaving himself open against Lee's follow up side kick. Naruto immediately brought his arms together in front of him in an X shape, trying to block the incoming kick. Though he did technically block, the force of the blow sent the blonde flying into a bush near the outskirts of the training ground.

Man, did that kid hit hard. He certainly wasn't pulling his punches alright. Even now, Naruto's arms felt numb just from blocking it. The blow felt like a hammer slamming into him, blasting him away.

Rubbing his arms, the blonde emerged from the bush, charging towards the Beautiful Green Beast and engaging him once more, catching him off guard with a punch to the abdomen, causing him to bend over. Never one to give up though, Lee came back with a rising backward flip, catching the blonde under the chin and lifting him from the ground, following up with a devastating drop kick that sent him crashing into the ground.

But before he could celebrate his victory, the blonde – before his very eyes – was reduced to dust as a voice sounded out from behind him.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."

An enormous gust of wind blew out across the clearing, violently picking Lee up off the ground, and sending him careening into a tree at the far end of the training ground, hitting his head on the tree-trunk.

When Lee heard the voice ring out from behind him, he turned around trying to ascertain the direction of attack, but he was too late and the jutsu too widespread for him to be able to do anything but look on as he was unceremoniously lifted off the ground and slammed into a tree at the other side of the training field. Try, as he might, he couldn't find the energy in him to stand up, the pain from the collision overriding all commands of his conscious mind. A shadow fell over him, and he looked up to see his eternal rival extending a hand out to him. Accepting the hand, Lee stood up, his head spinning still from the impact.

"Yosh, Naruto-kun, you are a worthy rival indeed. I shall defeat you next time, and prove that I can be a remarkable shinobi even without the use of ninjutsu or genjutsu. And if I cannot do that, then I will do two-hundred punches."

"…" Sweatdrop.

"What a splendid performance, Lee-kun, Naruto-kun, truly the epitome of all that is youthful. You must join us again in our youthful endeavors Naruto-kun."

"Eh, umm…"

"When did you switch out with a clone, Naruto-kun?" Asked Lee, genuinely curious.

"Since you blasted me into that bush." He said, pointing to the area in question. "Anyway, Gai-sensei. You said you could point out Hatake Kakashi to me…."

"Ah yes, my eternal rival. Let us go then, my youthful students." And thus, he leapt away into the woods. 'Since when am I his student….'

'Anyway, might as well follow him. Lee's gone as well.' Seeing the clearing empty out around him, the blonde followed the duo, trying to keep up with the freaky pace they set.

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Hatake Kakashi was a lonely man. And despite the fact that pretty much everyone worth his salt in Konoha (well, the shinobi population at least) knew of him, he led a mostly isolated life. Having spent the past eleven years as an ANBU agent, ever since the death of his idol and sensei, the Yondaime Hokage, and the feelings of loss he felt upon losing his dearest teammates Uchiha Obito and Rin, he could no longer bare to socialize and take part in all the fun and games that his colleagues immersed themselves in, as if nothing was different. As if life could possibly go on after everyone close to him had been killed. The pain, it was unbearable. And so, he threw himself into the monotonous life of an ANBU operative.

Given his prodigious skills and implanted sharingan eye, he rose through the ranks quickly, and it was not long before he was promoted to ANBU captain. With back to back high level A and S-rank missions, the misery of loss began to dull. In between, he sought refuge in his perverse selection of literature, which he would read shamelessly in public. After all, all high ranking shinobi had some sort of coping mechanism or the other; some resorted to drinking, some to extreme levels of sadism, some to perversion, some to gambling, some even chewed on senbon to release pent-up frustrations….

So here we find this world renowned shinobi kneeling before the Memorial Stone in Training Ground 7, seemingly muttering to himself. To the random passerby, one would think that he had lost it, but anyone who knew him would understand the solace that could be found in speaking to the friends and family that had departed, whether they could hear those words or not.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling in the leaves, and he leaned back to avoid an insanely fast-moving green blur shooting past where his head had been just moments ago.

"Dynamic Entry." Maito Gai shouted as he landed on one leg, twirling about in a display of his youthful passion. "Ah, Kakashi my youthful rival, what has you looking so gloomy this fine youthful morning? Here I've found a youthful soul searching for you, seeking to learn your hip and cool attitude." Announced Gai, just as Naruto and Lee stumbled into the Training Field, the latter huffing and puffing after the twenty minute murderous (and youthful) sprint.

Of all the things Kakashi could have expected, this was not any of them. For there was a boy standing before him, possessing a face so familiar, the resemblance was uncanny. But who was this boy. After observing him for a couple seconds, he realized who he was; the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. The 'demon brat'. The container of the infinitely powerful being of destruction that killed his sensei….wait, sensei? That's who this boy resembled, from the bright blue eyes, to the spiky blonde hair, and everything in between. 'Was it possible? Could sensei have made his own son into a Jinchuuriki? No, he wouldn't have done that…' But with each passing moment, his faith in his convictions wavered ever more.

"Hey, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the future most powerful ninja ever. You must be Hatake Kakashi, I presume?"

He knew who this boy was…..

**Jutsu:**

**Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)**

**C-Rank offensive fire release technique.****A technique where chakra kneaded inside the body is converted into fire and expelled from the mouth either as a massive orb of roaring flame or as a continuous flame-thrower. The scope of the attack is altered by controlling the volume of chakra that is mustered. The released flames will engulf their target, and leave a crater on the ground's surface. (Narutopedia)**

***** From now on, will be using the Japanese name for this jutsu.**

**Fuuton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)**

**C-Rank offensive wind release technique. This is a relatively simple technique that creates a sudden gust of wind, but its scale varies greatly depending on the user. If used by a superior shinobi, it has enough destructive power to knock down a large tree. The wind from the squall can blow away all things in the user's line of sight. (Narutopedia)**

***** From now on, will be using the Japanese name for this jutsu.**

**I'm thinking of a bloodline stealing Naruto. What do you Gais think? …..**

**Ok, so I originally wrote guys, but then when I replaced the English spelling of Guy with Gai, this little guy here was just as enthusiastic in awakening its springtime of youth, so I was like, hell, might as well just let it be.**

**Anyway, please take out a minute from your time and review, especially since it's my first story, and I'm working without a beta reader, so some comments on grammar and style would help. Also, as far as the plot is concerned, I do have a rudimentary layout planned out, but I'm open to your ideas. However, don't be disappointed if I don't make use of your ideas, which might be the case if it clashes with the basic plot I have thought up.**

**Well, I'm out.**


	3. Chapter 3: Heritage

**Vengeful Sage**

Chapter 3: Heritage

**Disclaimer: Do I own Naruto….why yes I did. Kishimoto was sued for trying to impersonate the great lamejoke911 and publish his work. Lamejoke911 became a major world business magnate. Then…..I woke up. Enough said.**

Kakashi just went on staring as the miniature version of his late sensei stood before him, awaiting a reply from the masked ninja. He just could not settle with believing that Naruto…. Sensei's Naruto was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, yet, he hadn't known. How he, who prided himself on his superior intellect and power of deduction, had never even seemed to notice this fact, despite passing by him several times over the past several years, Kakashi failed to comprehend. In his defense, however, on each of these occasions, he was on his way to or from a high-ranking mission or in the course of fulfilling his ANBU duties. Otherwise he would be too busy wallowing in his own guilt and self-pity that he would barely be paying much attention to those around him.

No, this wasn't sensei's son. He had died the night of the attack, the night sensei died. This… no, this was the Kyuubi. The Kyuubi was trying to deceive everyone around it into complacency. Then, it would attack. Then it would show its true colors. But no, he wouldn't let it. He would kill the demon right now, and end things once and for all.

Kakashi lifted his Hitai-ate to reveal a red eye with three tomoe arranged in a circular pattern. The sharingan; one of the most famed eyes in existence. A doujutsu that could see through an enemies attacks and predict their movements, as well as see how they mold their chakra and memorize hand-seals to be able to copy your adversaries' each and every move.

And it just so happened, that as the legendary Sharingan no Kakashi dashed ahead at elite jounin speeds, cocking his fist back for a one-hit KO, a green blur intercepted his blow, "What are you doing, Kakashi?" Maito Gai interjected, confusion and anger evident on his face. "What unyouthful behavior is this?"

"He's the demon. He must be killed before he can destroy us all."

Upon hearing this, said blonde felt his heart give. This person, who he had spent days searching for, who was somehow related to his parents, who he had placed his hopes in, was the same. The same as every other damn person in the village. Just like the others, he failed to make a distinction between Biju and host. What a disappointment. He was just as ignorant as the others. How foolish he felt for having thought otherwise. But there was a silver lining to all this. Gai-sensei, and he felt no misgivings in thinking of him such, was protecting him, even though they had barely met an hour ago. Yet, he had jumped in to protect him.

As Kakashi disengaged with the jounin, he stared at the blonde demon, a stare full of hate. It was then that he felt a disruption in his chakra. Thanks to the sharingan; he could see the volatile and sporadic spikes in his chakra that were characteristic of genjutsu. Holding his hands in a ram seal, the young ANBU captain spiked his chakra and suddenly released it all at once. Satisfied that the demon's attempt at ensnaring him in a genjutsu had been foiled, his lifted his gaze to look once more at the blonde. A look of absolute terror could be seen written across his face, prepared to flee were it not for the spandex-clad jounin's interference.

But this time, as Kakashi gazed into those blue orbs, something felt fundamentally different. All of that hate had suddenly evaporated, leaving him just standing there, confused by his actions. Thinking back to his actions, he realized that those intense feelings were not his own. He, with his calm and controlled demeanor, would never have given in to such a whimsical emotional compulsion. He had been controlled, his emotions played with. He had been tricked into attacking attack Naruto, who still stood behind Gai, a look of frustration marring his features. But who could have cast such a subtle and complex genjutsu.

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He would have to ponder over that later. Right now, he had to run damage control. Lowering his hands, and stepping back a couple steps, "I'm sorry for my outburst, Naruto. I wasn't in the best state of mind a moment ago." He lowered his Hitai-ate. "I'm truly sorry for attacking you. I don't know what came over me. Please forgive me…?"

"You think I'm a demon, don't you?"

"No, that's not it at all…Please understand, I thought you were someone else. But no, you're Uzumaki Naruto, the future most powerful shinobi ever. Can we just start again? Like from the beginning?"

Naruto finally released the breath he had been holding, which he just realized had been the case. Beginning with a slightly awkward expression, he entered his intro pose and said.

"Umm, ok… The name's Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm gonna be the most powerful shinobi ever."

"Hello, I'm Hatake Kakashi. Pleased to meet you. No really, I am pleased to meet you."

The blonde raised an eyebrow at this, not really sure he could take this person's words at face value, especially after the stunt he had tried to pull earlier.

"…"

"So, you were searching for me? What exactly did you need?"

"I wanted to ask you some questions. About someone you knew."

"Well, go on then. It's the least I can do."

"Did you know of a woman called Uzumaki Kushina?"

Kakashi looked on, flabbergasted. It was highly unlikely for Naruto to have come across that name purely by chance. It was far too improbable. He would have to ask Hokage-sama about it. Across from them both, Gai too was curious about where Naruto had heard of Kushina, while Lee looked on in confusion. Nevertheless, he immediately understood the look Kakashi sent his way. 'This was not something to be discussed out in public.

"Lee, it's time to fan our flames of youth, lest they die out for lack of training."

"Yosh, let us embrace the flames of youth, or else they will be extinguished due to our inattention."

And so, the duo set off to who knows where, to do who knows what.

"Where did you hear that name?"

"From Teuchi-ojisan at Ichiraku Ramen. Why, does the name hold some importance for you? He did say you knew her."

"Why yes. I knew her quite well. In fact, when I was a young genin, my jounin sensei was the Yondaime Hokage…"

"What? You learned from the Yondaime? Wow…."

"Ahem, as I was saying, I studied under Yondaime-sama, and Kushina Uzumaki was very close to him. In fact, she was like a mother to me."

"Do you know how she died?"

"Yes, she was killed by the Kyuubi."

"Did she have any children?"

"Why the sudden interest Naruto? This is the private life of someone very close to me you're asking about."

"I want to know because she, like me was an Uzumaki, possibly the only other one in Konoha, and I thought…that maybe we could be related…"

"I think Hokage-sama would be a better person to ask. He knew her longer." 'Plus, he would know what to say and what not to say.'

'As I thought, Hokage-jiji knew, but kept me in the dark about my heritage. He clenched his fists in anger, but then released them once more and the mask of innocence and calm resurfaced. "Jiji said he doesn't know about any Uzumaki during the time before my birth, since he was officially retired back then."

'Bullshit. There isn't a ninja in the Elemental Nations jounin upwards that Sandaime-sama hasn't heard of….'

"Well, Naruto, how about I answer your questions tonight, eh? Over dinner, how does that sound?"

"Fabulous, Ichiraku Ramen then, OK?"

"Ichiraku it is, then… Be there at 8."

'I have got to talk this over with Hokage-sama before I answer his questions. If Hokage-sama hasn't told Naruto about his parents, then there must have been a reason not to. Then there is also the issue of that genjutsu.' Kakashi suddenly disappeared with a Body Flicker Jutsu, leaving a cloud of smoke in his wake.

As Naruto watched the Hatake Kakashi vanish into smoke, 'Man, I've so gotta learn how to do that….'

And then the blonde remembered that in all of the excitement, he hadn't gotten any training done all day. Well, there was still an hour or two before noon, so he might as well make use of it.

Half an hour later found him back at Training Ground Three, deliberating over what he should practice on today. However, his thoughts kept returning to his short spar with Lee. Even though he had won on the basis of his ninjutsu and sneakiness, he knew that with respect to taijutsu, he had been overwhelmed. There hadn't been enough time for a decisive taijutsu battle, but when he thought back to it, he knew he would have been beaten were it not for his ability to use ninjutsu. Lee's blows were heavy, and he was fast. Naruto considered himself to be quite quick, and if it came down to a race between the two, or a test of endurance, he was fairly confidant of his chances, but Lee's speed was nothing to laugh at either. In addition, Lee's moves were very well-coordinated, as if he had practiced and executed them hundreds of times, if he went by the fluidity of his movements.

It was not that the blonde didn't practice taijutsu. He would perform punches and kicks, practicing jumps and measure his sprint time. But his moves were still untested. He had actually used them in battle for the first time today. After mulling over the problem for what seemed like hours, he had an epiphany. 'I need a training partner.'

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Naruto ducked behind a dustbin as a three man squad of military police passed by. The outskirts of the Uchiha compound, which was far removed from the center of the village, were heavily patrolled by the military police, seeing as it was predominantly under the influence of the Uchiha clan, even though non-Uchihas could also join if they so wished. Sneaking by the patrol, Naruto jumped the wall. It had been barely five seconds when the alarm was sounded, and hordes of footsteps could be heard. Ducking into an alley, he waited as a dozen officers barreled past, and then, careful not to be seen, he arrived in front of the largest house in the compound. The clan head's residence no doubt. Behind the house, there was a yard and training field. Upon arriving there:

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu." A high-pitched voice roared, as a giant fireball could be seen on its way towards a five-foot tree trunk, which was already black, apparently as a result of a constant effort to incinerate it, a tree trunk behind which our favorite blonde was currently hiding. Realizing where thinks were heading, Naruto sprang out from behind the trunk, but he hadn't enough time to fully escape the scope of the fireball. Thinking on his feet and rushing through the seven hand-seals required, he lifted his fingers to his mouth, blowing out with all his might.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu."

Whoever said fight fire with fire certainly wasn't a ninja. As the two fireballs clashed, each pushing against the other, trying their utmost to establish dominance over the other, Naruto saw that his fireball was being pushed back. In an attempt to save his life, he started pouring more and more chakra into the attack, but for all the good it did, he may as well not even have tried. Admittedly, the extra boost he gave his jutsu was sufficient for overcoming the incoming fireball, however, it came at the cost of control. The two jutsu destabilized, blowing up in the faces of the two chance adversaries. The blast sent both ninja flying back, their clothes singed by the searing heat of the explosion, small scorch marks riddled their arms and faces.

As Naruto got up, he looked around him. The training post he had been hiding behind had been reduced to ashes, and across the clearing, lay the boy he had come to find. Approaching the downed figure, he heard voices behind him, and just in time, sprinted into the forest to take cover behind one of the trees. Moments later, three cadets of the military police showed up, worry etched on their faces as they saw the general's youngest son on the ground, struggling to stand. His clothes showing evident signs of being burned.

"Sasuke-kun."

"What happened?"

"Are you alright?"

"We heard an explosion…."

Finding the strength to stand on his own two feet, the boy called Sasuke looked back at the cadets. He was a fair-skinned young boy who had onyx eyes and chin-length black hair, which was spiky in the back, his bangs coming down over his eyes. He wore the traditional Uchiha clan outfit, a short-sleeved black shirt with a high-collar, displaying the Uchiha emblem on the back.

"It's nothing. I was just practicing with my fire jutsu and it exploded in my face."

"Should we take you to the hospital, Sasuke-kun?"

"No, no there's no need. I'm perfectly alright…."

"If you say so, I guess…."

With that, the trio of cadets left. 'That was odd.' Sasuke thought. 'The Gokakyu no Jutsu has never blown up in my face before…. And there was a delay between hitting the training post and exploding. It was just hanging in mid-air, like some unseen force from the other side was pushing it back. And the heat… He had never felt such intensity before…. It was strong enough for two, maybe even three fireballs…

Before he could come to a conclusion, a blonde, whisker-faced boy of about eleven years emerged from the foliage, showing signs of scorch marks along his face and arms, just like Sasuke's own. Oh, he knew this person. He knew him very well. He was the class dobe, who couldn't even get a single clone right. Yet, he was arrogant. He thought he could face off against an Uchiha, a superior ninja by birth. In spite of that, not a month would pass by where he wouldn't challenge him. Him! The top of his class Uchiha prodigy. That is, until ten months ago. He had just stopped. No more challenges. No more screaming to the world how he would be Hokage. No more horrid jump-suit…. Yeah, he couldn't believe he'd forgotten about that. The orange eyesore that Naruto was so enamored of. He'd abandoned it all. He was actually relieved.

"What are you doing here, dobe?"

"I can be wherever I want to be…." Speaking with Sasuke just got him riled up and defensive for no reason at all.

"Well, this is Uchiha property, so leave."

"Oh, so is that why you decided to send a humongous fireball my way?"

"What? That was you that caused my fireball to explode? You really are good for nothing but destruction, aren't you?"

"Had it not been for my own fireball in return, I would have been burned to a crisp. Is that how you treat guests, teme?"

'"Hmph, you couldn't make a fireball to save your life."

"Well, newsflash teme. I just did."

"Liar."

"Oh yeah. Well I'll show you then."

Going through the seven hand-seals required for the jutsu:

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu."

He blew outwards, launching a fireball in the direction of the two remaining training posts, the third having been destroyed as a result of the earlier explosion. With a smug expression set on his face, he turned to see the look on Sasuke's face. It was murderous. The boy in question marched up to the blonde, holding him by his collar.

"Where did you learn the Gokakyu no Jutsu? It's an Uchiha clan secret, you thieving dobe."

"Yes, a secret your clan probably stole from another clan in the first place. What do you call a clan of freaky-eyed, jutsu-poaching policemen anyway?"

"Tell me where you learned it from, dobe." He demanded, shaking him violently.

"I learned it from the library. It's not really that big of a secret teme."

"Well, what are you doing here anyway?"

"I came here for a spar. It's been a long time, and I needed a training partner."

"After what happened the last time we sparred?"

**Flashback:**

_It was a nice warm morning, early autumn where the intense heat of the summer months had passed by, and the chill of the winter months had yet to set in. Barely a month into the academic year, two boys stood facing each other on an elevated platform. Between the two stood a man of average height with brown hair kept in a ponytail. His defining feature was a scar that ran across the bridge of his nose. He wore a chunin flak jacket and the Konoha Hitai-ate on his forehead. _

_It was the first monthly exam, which consisted of several sections, one of which was the no-holds spar that was about to ensue. The entire class standing in a circle in the training field outside the academy, pairs of students were chosen to come up front to fight each other one-on-one. No restrictions. Of course, they were only allowed blunt weapons. The upcoming match just so happened to be everyone's favorite, where the all-popular scion of the famed Uchiha clan pounded on the class dobe, and everybody could have their share of a laugh at the expense of the guy that had the guts to mess with anyone and anyone out there, sparing not even the teachers of his pranks._

"_Are you two ready to begin?"_

"_Yes sensei." Two voices said in unison, one markedly more enthusiastic about it than the other. _

"_Then, on your marks, Hajime!" Bringing his hand down, Umino Iruka jumped back, as the two rivals (in the blonde's opinion) dashed forward, tossing blunted shuriken at each other as they dodged and maneuvered, none of the projectiles hitting their target as the two engaged. Naruto went in for a punch, but Sasuke ducked and the blonde overextended himself, leaving himself open for Sasuke to sweep his feet out from beneath him. _

"_Go, Sasuke-kun."_

"_You're the best Sasuke-kun."_

"_Beat that baka into the ground."_

"_He's just a loser. Way to go, Sasuke-kun."_

_But Naruto wasn't down for the count yet. Getting up, he charged once more, as he kicked the young boy standing before him, before the illusion disappeared into nothing, and he looked behind him to see a beach ball sized fireball heading his way. He had no time to get out of the way, and so he crossed his arms in front of him, preparing for the worst._

"_That's quite enough, Sasuke. You've won." Said Iruka, as he interfered, pulling Naruto out of the way. "Hmph. A loser like always, dobe. You can never be my equal."_

"_Sasuke-kun is so cool…." Murmurs spread throughout the crowd._

"_Just you wait. I'll beat you for sure next time."_

"_Learn some ninjutsu before you come face me next time, dobe."_

"_You bet I will, teme. Just you wait."_

'_Naruto-kun. I wish I had the same determination as you. The same strength to move on and face everything in life with a smile on my face.' A meek young girl with lavender eyes and dark blue hair stood watching, with a smile on her face._

**Flashback end:**

"This time is gonna be radically different. I've trained my butt off for this fight, and I won't lose. I even learned some ninjutsu as I said I would."

"Hmph. Regardless, a dobe like you could never hope to qualify as my sparring partner, let alone my equal."

"Oh, yeah, we'll see when I rub your face in the dirt."

"Well fine then. If you can make this battle last five minutes, I'll accept you as a suitable training partner."

"Just watch me."

Taking their stances, both boys stared at each other, each boy waiting for the other to make the first move.

Sasuke darted forward, starting the fight with an opening jab to the chest. Naruto immediately parried, moving a step back to maintain his distance. A grin broke out on his face. Sasuke of course, was only testing the waters. Once more, he moved forward with a side kick to the stomach, only for Naruto to side-step and retaliate with a sweeping kick, knocking Sasuke off his feet. Before Naruto could press the advantage, Sasuke landed with a twin handed hand-stand, flipping backwards in mid-air to come to a stop two meters behind his original position.

"It seems the Uchiha aren't so mighty after all." The blonde taunted.

"Don't get cocky. This fight hasn't even started yet." Sasuke replied, as he took his stance once more. In reality, he was amazed that Naruto could even keep up with him, let alone have the upper hand. Just a couple months ago, Naruto wouldn't have lasted a minute against him. He had definitely improved.

He was brought out of his thoughts as he lifted his arms to defend himself from a rising kick to his chin, but Naruto's kick didn't even connect. Too late did he realize that it had been a feint, as the real deal came down in the form of a devastating drop-kick. Leaping back at the last moment, he wasn't fast enough to completely evade the attack as it struck his forehead, then his nose and finally glanced by his chest.

Raising his hands up to his nose, he found them stained in crimson – stained in his blood. He was taking this fight easy. And he paid for it. No more. He would be pulling out the stops now. Moving as fast as he could, just as his brother had showed him, he started bombarding his foe with shuriken, all the while not stopping for a second. Naruto soon found himself assaulted by the full power of an Uchiha's rage as he dodged the hail of shuriken, one after the other. Ducking past the first five, he leaped to the right to dodge the next set of three shuriken, failing to notice the fourth that came from right behind him, slicing into his shoulder.

Blood dripping from his wound, shallow as it was, Naruto pulled out the shuriken lodged in his shoulder, just in time to see Sasuke running through a set of hand-seals he recognized all too well. Quickly forming an earth clone beside him, he retreated, as his earth clone too went through hand-seals for a jutsu.

Finishing together, the two shouted:

"**Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu**/**Fuuton: Daitoppa**!"

The two simultaneous blasts of wind and fire flew at each other at violent speeds, finally clashing in the middle of the two contestants. The moment the two clashed, there was an explosion, the wind stoking the flames and blowing them out of proportion. Within seconds, the fireball the size of a chair had grown to twice the size of an elephant, instantaneously overwhelming the blast of wind opposing it. The blonde standing before it never stood a chance.

Panting from the effort, Sasuke approached the site of the explosion to find nothing but a charred corpse, with third degree burns running down its body. 'Did I just kill the dobe? How's that possible. In fact, that fire was far too strong. My normal Fireball Jutsu isn't even one-tenth the size and intensity of what just happened…..' However, before he could comment, it withered away to dust.

"Dammit teme. Are you trying to kill me or what?" He heard a voice speak out from behind him. Startled, Sasuke looked behind him to see Naruto holding a kunai to his neck. 'How did he escape from that attack?' Naruto was completely unharmed, except for the remnants of that first explosion some fifteen minutes ago, and a cut on his shoulder from when his shuriken had pierced it.

"How did you do that? I saw it with my own eyes, you were dead center of my fire jutsu."

"Well, learn your lesson teme. Never let Uzumaki Naruto out of your sight." The blonde wagged his finger at him. Almost as if, he was provoking him. ' That's it…'

"I think that's enough for today, don't you think? Sasuke? Naruto-kun?" A young male voice interrupted, taking hold of Naruto's kunai and pushing it away from Sasuke's neck.

Both young shinobi in training turned to look at the new arrival - an average-height youth of about sixteen years, who with his jet-black hair and intense onyx gaze, struck an intimidating figure, though otherwise he appeared to be pretty much a regular teen.

"Nii-san!"

"Quite an interesting fight….. I'm surprised you were able to surprise Sasuke like that."

"Well, I've been training my butt off. There'd better be some results."

"My name is Uchiha Itachi. I'm Sasuke's older brother. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the soon to be strongest ninja ever."

"Hmm, yes, my otouto has told me quite a lot about you. Though it seems his description might have been a bit off."

While Itachi was speaking with Naruto, Sasuke stood in the background, clenching his fists in frustration. The more he tried to catch up with his brother and surpass all his peers, the further away he seemed from achieving his goals. If he lost to someone who was inferior to him, a no-name clan-less loser, could he ever hope to defeat his brother, who was a prodigy among prodigies, hailing from the legendary Uchiha clan?

'Why? Why is it that no matter how much I train, I just can't seem to earn the recognition of tou-san?'

Even though it was his dream that his father would recognize him, and praise him just as he praised Itachi, Sasuke always fell short of the yard-stick his father would measure him by. Despite the fact that he would receive the top scores in everything, he was not the jewel of his father's eyes, nor was he the pride of the clan like Itachi was. He was always ignored as second-best.

"Where did you learn that wind jutsu, Naruto-kun?" Asked Itachi, genuinely surprised that an orphan like Naruto would have learned a wind nature ninjutsu even though he had no known teacher to speak of.

"I learned it from a book in the library. Why does everybody ask me that?" He screamed out in protest.

"Hey, calm down, I was just curious how you managed to defeat my brother, since he's top in his class and I train him too sometimes, so he's not that bad."

"Huh, could you train me too? I really really need a teacher….."

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun. Between my ANBU duties and helping my brother, I wouldn't be able to take out enough time from my schedule, but I'll try to find you one."

Turning to Sasuke, "Sasuke, you know why you lost?"

Sasuke refused to look up, glaring at the ground as Itachi went on.

"Because you underestimated your opponent and got hit as a result. Then you let your rage consume you, blinding you to what possibilities may have been, and so you were taken by surprise."

"Since when were you watching?" Finally raising his face, now glaring at Naruto instead.

"Since the very beginning, after that explosion. Once again, I must say that you need to watch yourself. You fired a fireball at a training post, not noticing a person behind it. I'm disappointed.

"As for you Naruto-kun. This is Uchiha clan property. What are you doing here?"

This brought a smirk to Sasuke's face. Seeing the dobe being berated would any day, especially now that the blonde had defeated him.

"I've decided that Sasuke-teme will be my training partner."

"I think that is an excellent idea. What do you say, Sasuke?"

"Heh, the teme here just lost a bet. He said if I could make this fight last five minutes he would train with me." He pointed out, "Unless he's too chicken of course."

"Hn." A grunt was his only reply.

"…." Itachi gave him his favorite Uchiha glare, complete with the red eyes and all.

"Ok, fine." He finally relented.

"How about you two meet up on weekends here, and I might even show up to give you some pointers?"

"Sure, that's perfect, since it gives me some time to train on my own as well."

"Hn."

"Well before you leave. Here's a pointer. Since both of you were using elemental techniques…"

"What's an elemental technique?"

Giving a sigh, "An elemental technique is one in which you convert your chakra to that of a particular element of nature. This may be water, fire, wind, lightning or earth. For example, the Gokakyu no Jutsu is a fire element release jutsu, whereas Fuuton: Daitoppa is a wind release jutsu. Some people have an affinity for one element while others have an affinity for another. For example, most of the Uchiha clan have an affinity for fire jutsu."

"An affinity? What's that?" Ever the dead-last, Naruto asked. Even though, his being deadlast was not a result of low IQ or anything of the like, merely the treatment of his teachers and the loss of interest that resulted from it.

"An affinity is basically which element you can use the most easily, and most powerfully." Trying to get back to the topic at hand, "Anyway, as I was saying. These elements forma cycle in the given order, water – fire – wind – lightning – earth – water. Each element is weak against the one preceding it, and strong against the one succeeding it. So when Naruto-kun used a wind attack, it was immediately overwhelmed by Sasuke's fire attack. Keep that in mind next time you spar."

"How do you know what your affinity is?"

"Wait till the weekend. I'll tell you then. Now, go on. This sparring session is over."

And so, our favorite blonde sulked off to pass the time elsewhere, unable to wait till dinner, when he would learn about his clan.

Having expelled the intruder from their midst, the two Uchiha turned to each other, their eyes meeting for the first time. "Well well, little brother. It seems that the class dobe is anything but. You seem to have found yourself a worthy rival."

"Nii-san. Train me. Please…"

Itachi extended his hand to reach over to Sasuke, "Maybe some other time, otouto." As he poked him in the forehead. "In the meanwhile, why don't you go train with Kiyomi-chan? I'm sure she'll be happy to indulge you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In a ramen stand on the other side of the village, a blonde ten-year old – going on eleven –stumbled into the entrance, his appearance disheveled. A masked man with spiky gravity-defying hair sat waiting.

"You're late." Was his warm welcome.

To Kakashi, these words coming from his mouth seemed just unnatural. He never waited for anybody. Never. But today, he felt sympathy for the boy in front of him, and decided to spare him the horror that was waiting for Hatake Kakashi.

"Umm, sorry Kakashi-san. I was being chased by those stupid Uchiha police people, so I had to hide and wait them out."

"Okay… So I won't ask what you were doing that made them chase you. I'm here, you wanted some answers. So ask away."

"Did Uzumaki Kushina have any children?"

"Well, she was pregnant the last time I saw her. In fact, I was her guard during her pregnancy. But I failed to protect her when it mattered most. It is one of my greatest regrets. She gave me the day off the day of the Kyuubi attack. In fact, she was supposed to give birth that day."

"So, did she?"

"Well, I wasn't there. But there is one thing I do know." Creating an air of suspense.

"Well? What is it?"

"Her son was to be named Naruto."

Silence. That was all that he received. No shouts of surprise, exclamation, no expression of anger. Just silence.

Then, "Was she my mother?"

"Apparently, yes."

Naruto didn't know what to feel. He knew who his mother was. 'And so did jiji for that matter. But he lied to me all my life.' This man also knew his mother. Very well, if he was to be believed. But still, he hadn't inquired after her son. He had just left him to rot, like the rest of the village. But he told him in the end….that had to count for something right?

"How long have you known?"

"Since this morning, really. When you asked me about her, something clicked, and I realized that you must be her son. Once again, I'm sorry for attacking you like that."

'I guess he can be redeemed.'

"Can you tell me who my father was?" His voice dropping to an all-time low. A sort of pleading tone in his tone.

Kakashi hesitated. He really wanted to tell Naruto about his father, but…

**Flashback no Jutsu**

_A man with gravity defying silver hair, and a leaf Hitai-ate stood in a circular office, facing an old man sitting at a desk before him._

"_Hokage-sama, is Naruto sensei's and Kushina-sensei's son?"_

"_How long have you known?"_

"_Since just this morning. Naruto came to me asking about her." And so he told him about his encounter with the blonde that morning._

"_And what did you tell him?"_

"_I told him I would answer his questions over dinner, so I could come and consult you first."_

"_You did the right thing Kakashi."_

"_What should we do, Hokage-sama? He's bound to find out eventually."_

"_You know how important it is that Minato's enemies never find out about Naruto, or else they may attempt to take our Jinchuuriki for themselves. Konoha is already weakened from the Kyuubi attack and we haven't yet recovered to full force. You know what loss of our Jinchuuriki could mean….. We would lose our position at the top of the shinobi world."_

"_But he's sensei's son. He has a right to know who his parents were. He's practically figured out the identity of his mother already anyway. Is that all you think of him as? As Konoha's Jinchuuriki?"_

"_We cannot risk it. Tell him about Kushina if you must, but not about Minato under any circumstances. Konoha must always come first. Before family, before friends. Before the life and feelings of each and every individual. As long as the tree stands firm, then anything else is a necessary sacrifice."_

'_This is not the Hokage-sama I've always known. He always used to tell me about the will of fire, and that a village is its people. Something is wrong.'_

'_He is certainly hiding something. There is no point in talking to him about the genjutsu. I need some time to sort things out.'_

"_Hai, Hokage-sama."_

**Flashback Kai:**

Kakashi was torn between guilt, and obedience to his leader. But he knew that something was wrong. The way the Hokage completely disregarded any of his pleas for forbidding the villagers from attacking Naruto, or from assigning him a protection unit, as if he wanted them to attack Naruto. But what could be his objective. This was the kind of thing Danzo would be expected to do, not the kind old man that was the Hokage.

After what felt like several minutes of deliberation, he came to a decision. He could not just stick by his orders, especially when he knew something was seriously wrong. After all, '_Those that abandon their comrades are worse than scum.' _Abandoning Naruto and deceiving him would be like betraying his sensei, and what would that make him?

"Naruto, come with me." Placing the money on the counter, alongside his unfinished bowl of ramen, Kakashi stood up, walking away from the stand, Naruto following right behind him.

"Naruto, what you need to understand is that the identity of your father is a secret, an S-class secret. The Hokage has forbidden me from telling you."

"Why? Every child should has the right to knowing who his father is."

"I agree, and that's why I'm telling you this, but you must promise to never ever let anyone know the identity of your father, and you must never let out the fact that I told you who he was. If you can promise me that, I'll tell you."

"Sure, I promise."

"Naruto, your father's name was Namikaze Minato. More generally known as the Yondaime Hokage, and my own sensei."

To say Naruto was shocked would be the understatement of the century. Him, some no-name clan-less loser – as Sasuke-teme would put it – was the son of the Yondaime Hokage, one of the greatest shinobi to have ever lived….. That was nigh unbelievable.

"I don't believe you."

"It's your decision, whether you believe it or not, but you might want to see the similarities you possess, like your bright blue eyes, blonde hair etc."

It hit him like a bombshell. He really did look a hell of a lot like the Yondaime. His facial features, especially. He even had this tendency of often going to sit on his head at the Hokage Monument. How he failed to notice this before, it completely escaped him. It was like a dam had been broken as a river of new ideas flowed into his mind.

"Why would the Hokage keep this a secret?"

Had he told the people, Naruto would have been respected. He would have been loved as the son of the village's favorite Hokage and its hero.

"Because your father had a lot of enemies, and Hokage-sama was afraid that if word got out, you would be kidnapped."

'He could have had me protected from the villagers…'

"Could you tell me more about my parents? About both of them….Like what they were like?"

"Sure. Your mother, was much like you. Impulsive and stubborn. But she was also cheerful and very kind. Violet eyes and the fiery red hair that the Uzumaki clan was famous for. She was a very strong and powerful shinobi. Strong enough to beat me hands down, especially when she used those chakra chains of hers. And your father, well any history book would hold complete chapters on him. The fastest shinobi to ever live, sensei was truly an exceptional person, a legend. He looked much like you, and he was pretty popular with the ladies. Always calm and collected. In fact, he left me the keys to his house, where your parents lived. If you want, I could take you there."

"Really. Please, take me there."

"Fine. Just remember your promise."

"I will, Kakashi-nii."

**And there.**

**OC:**

**Kiyomi is a member of the Uchiha clan. She is one year Sasuke's senior.**

**Alright, so if anyone has any queries about how Naruto can use the fireball jutsu, well, in theory, anyone can learn any jutsu, though you will find that you're better suited to using the element you have an affinity for. Besides, we will soon see that Naruto has a slight affinity for fire jutsu, and a major affinity for wind….and whatever other things happen to come up later on in the story.**

**Also, I'm thinking of making this a crossover with harry potter. I'll let my readers vote on it though. The decision however, remains my own. Anyway, I've opened a poll for you guys. Do vote on it on my profile.**

**Aside from that, it's really disappointing how my story hasn't really gotten any reviews. It's not very good encouragement if you know what I mean. Either my story is really that bad, in which case I'd like my readers to tell me so, if not tell me what you like….**

**Same for my community. Do take a look. I'd like some favs on it. Well anyway.**

**Well, I'm out.**


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